China Consults on RoHS Related Standard on Determination of Seven Phthalates

On March 3, 2022, the China Electronics Standardization Institute issued the RoHS-related standard “Determination of Seven Phthalates in Electrical and Electronic Products: High Performance Liquid Chromatography (Draft)” (hereinafter referred to as Standard) to publicly solicit comments. The public consultation will end on April 8, 2022.

In 2015, EU commission published Directive 2015/863/EU to amend Annex II to EU RoHS 2 (Directive 2011/65/EU), adding four types of phthalates as restricted substances, i.e., diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). To restrict the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products proposed in the 14th Five-Year Industrial Green Development Plan and keep in pace with international regulations, China also intended to add these four types of phthalates as restricted substances under the Measures for the Administration of the Restricted Use of the Hazardous Substances Contained in Electrical and Electronic Products (China RoHS 2). Efforts will be made to promote the upgrading of relevant standards (CL news).

Compared to the traditional method GC-MS, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is less costly with less pollution. Thus, this Standard is drafted to promote the use of HPLC to support the determination of phthalates under RoHS control in China.  It consists of eleven parts and two annexes. The original document of this draft standard can be accessed here.

The Standard will apply to the determination of the below seven phthalates.